Hungary's Orban moves to form new alliance with Austrian and Czech nationalist parties
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced he wanted to form a new alliance with Austria’s far-right Freedom Party and the main Czech opposition party. The trio is looking to attract political partners from other EU countries to successfully form a group in the new European parliament.
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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Sunday presented a new alliance with Austria's far-right Freedom Party and the main Czech opposition party, which hopes to attract other partners and become the biggest right-wing group in the European Parliament.
Orban traveled to Vienna to present the “Patriots for Europe” alliance of his Fidesz party with the Freedom Party and former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis's ANO party, a day before Hungary takes over the European Union’s rotating presidency for six months.
The European Parliament elections in early June strengthened hard-right parties overall, though their performances varied from country to country, but left unclear to what extent they would manage to work together. Until now, they have been spread across two groups in the EU legislature, plus a large number of unaligned parties.
Orban in recent years has appeared to relish opportunities to block, water down or delay key EU decisions, routinely going against the grain of most other leaders on issues like the war in Ukraine, relations with Russia and China, and efforts to defend democracy and the rule of law. His public opposition to EU policies and stances has long frustrated other governments in the bloc and pushed him to the margins of the continent’s mainstream.
You can tell France24 is a hard-left media outlet. Everything Orban has done in recent years has been to save Hungary and the EU from the madness of far-left lunatics who are doing their absolute best to destroy the continent. For some reason, France24 doesn't like that.
“What Europeans want is three things: peace, order and development,” Orban said through an interpreter at Sunday's event. “And what they are getting from the elite in Brussels today is war, migration and stagnation.”
“Our objective is, and we believe that this will happen, that in a short time, this will be the strongest right-wing group in the European Parliament,” Orban said.
The trio would need to attract lawmakers from at least four more EU countries to successfully form a group in the new parliament.
Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl noted that the new European Parliament will meet for the first time in Strasbourg on July 16. He said that “starting immediately ... all political forces that want to join in our political and positive reform effort are very welcome."
Kickl added that “from what I have heard in recent days ... there will be more of them than some of you probably suspect right now.” He didn't name any potential partners, and the three party leaders didn't take questions.
The Freedom Party narrowly won first place in the European Parliament election and hopes to win Austria's national election on Sept. 29.
A “patriotic manifesto for a European future" signed by the three party leaders assails alleged plans for “a European central state" and pledges “to prioritize sovereignty over federalism, freedom over diktats, and peace.”
(AP)
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Germany's far-right AfD party re-elects two
amid violent protests
June 29 (UPI) -- Germany's Alternative for Deutschland party re-elected Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla to another two-year team as the party's joint leaders amid violent protests Saturday in Essen.
Chrupalla received 82.72% of supporting votes from 600 AfD party delegates and Weidel 79.77% during the AfD conference that got underway Saturday.
Their successful bids for reelection as AfD party leaders occurred as thousands of protesters took to the streets of Essen Saturday morning.
The group Widersetzen allegedly is organizing mass protests against the AfD, which many describe as a "far-right" political party.
Widersetzen protest organizers want its members and supporters to disrupt the AfD conference to "prevent the spread of fascism."
About 1,000 German police are deployed in Essen for the two-day political conference.
Police officials expect up to 80,000 protesters to arrive in Essen on Saturday, including about 1,000 far-left extremists prone to violence, German media have reported.
The Bild newspaper reported police made several arrests and rescued an AfD member whom aggressive protesters had cornered in a local bakery.
Hooded violent protesters attacked police and security forces outside the event, which led to several arrests, the North Rhine-Westphalia regional police posted on X.
Violent protesters seriously injured two police officers, according to the NRW.
The protests follow the AfD's recent European Union election results earlier this month that gave the party Germany's second-highest amount of votes.
Only the Christian Democratic Union, which is considered a center-right political party, has more votes.
The AfD's election success occurred despite AfD member Maximilian Krah in May saying not all former Nazi SS members were criminals.
But, it appears that some of the anti-AfD protesters are criminals.
Polls show French far-right party with big lead
ahead of Sunday election
June 29 (UPI) -- France's far-right National Rally party is showing a large lead in the latest polls ahead of the country's national election Sunday.
The party led by Marine Le Pen is projected to capture 36% of the popular vote, according to the poll conducted by the French polling and market research firm IFOP.
That would equate to between 260 and 295 seats in the French parliament.
If Le Pen's National Rally wins, it would mark the first far-right government since the Nazis occupied France during World War II.
France's parliament is made up of 577 seats, meaning a majority of 289 is required to form an absolute majority government. Falling short of that, the country could look to form a coalition.
French President Emmanuel Macron's governing Renaissance party is projected to secure only 20% of the popular vote, with the left-wing New Popular Front sitting at 27%, according to the poll, published Thursday.
The first of two rounds of voting in the election takes place Sunday with the second round set for July 7.
Under the country's electoral system, any candidate that receives at least 12.5% of the local vote moves on to the second round of voting.
Macron had not commented publicly on the latest polling numbers as of Saturday afternoon,
"Nothing can stop a people who have started to hope again. Have faith in France, be free, be passionately French," National rally member Jordan Bardella said on X in a post translated to English by Google.
Bardella may become the next Prime Minister of France.
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EU urged to insist on human rights reforms
as it delivers financial aid to Egypt
June 28 (UPI) -- As European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen travels to Cairo Saturday to deliver financial aid the EU-Egypt Investment Conference, Amnesty International is urging the EU to insist in Egyptian human rights reform.
The EU will sign a short-term macro-financial assistance package of $1.06 billion designed to bolster the Egyptian economy's resilience. It's part of a larger $7.91 billion EU package to support the Strategic and Comprehensive partnership with Egypt.
What does the EU have to do with Egypt? As if the EU doesn't have enough problems of its own to solve, it seems prepared to hand out billions of euros to countries that have little or nothing to do with Europe. Somebody help me understand this.
Amnesty International joined other human rights organizations in Egypt and around the globe urging the European Union to make sure human rights activists are freed from prison before the financial deal is completed.
"Thousands of people including journalists, critics, opposition politicians, peaceful protesters and human rights defenders are unjustly languishing behind bars, in squalid conditions, for exercising their human rights," said Amnesty International's Eve Geddie, in a statement. "The EU must ensure Egypt releases those arbitrarily detained before proceeding with the deal at hand."
She said the assistance package is one of the most expensive financial deals the EU has ever signed off on with non-EU nation.
If there is no human rights precondition, Geddie said, the EU would be breaking its own rules.
Fifteen Egyptian and international human rights organizations joined Amnesty in calling for the human rights reforms as a condition of Egypt receiving the aid.
The EU announcement Friday of von der Leyen's role at the conference made no mention of human rights reforms, only of "human capital" as one among many financial considerations to be covered at the weekend Cairo conference.
Von der Leyen will deliver the opening speech for the conference Saturday along with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
The Egypt-EU Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership signed in March includes everything from political relations to economic stability, migration and security.
Roughly 1,000 people will participate in the conference, including senior officials from the EU and Egypt across a wide range of sectors.
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